(Trinidad Guardian) Criminologist Ian Ramdhanie is urging the country to brace for an increase in crime once the 9 pm to 5 am curfew is relaxed. Ramdhanie is also warning citizens that the arrests of gang leaders during the state of emergency can lead to collateral damage when the country returns to normalcy. Ramdhanie, a programme manager and lecturer at the Institute of Criminology and Public Safety at the University of T&T, said the unexpected or unintentional losses were likely to take place when the state of emergency is lifted, which the T&T Police Service must be prepared to deal with. With the lockdown of so-called hot-spot areas came crime displacement, Ramdhanie said.
“They (criminals and gang leaders) will lie low for a few days but will move to another location. The police have to expect this and put mechanisms in place to deal with this displacement. When they arrest gang leaders, new ones will emerge. So the country can brace for an increase in crime.” Asked if this can lead to collateral damage, Ramdhanie replied, curtly, “Of course it will. As soon as things lighten up, we can expect an increase in drug trafficking and alongside drug trafficking will be homicides and shootings. It will go hand-in-hand. The police service should expect this. They have to put things in place to counteract this.”
Ramdhanie said relaxing the curfew hours would send a message that things had cooled down and “you might see a resurgence.” He said once the curfew hours were amended, the arrest rate would drop, and so, too, would the enthusiasm and morale of police officers and soldiers. Stating that crime happened in cycles, Ramdhanie said though the murder rate had significantly fallen in the last 14 days, once the state of emergency was lifted, “There is going to be an upsurge in crime at some point in time. It’s a matter of how long we can prevent it or how long we can keep it down.” He said the longer T&T faced a state of emergency, the more the economy, country, Government and business sectors would suffer.
“Eventually you will have to give way and then you will see the resurgence.” Ramdhanie said two seasons, Christmas and Carnival, were when criminals went on the attack. These seasons are just around the corner. Describing the arrests of gang leaders as short-term measures of tackling crime, Ramdhanie said the Government needed to have medium- and long-term initiatives in place. Among the medium- and long-term recommendations Ramdhanie pitched was an increase in police detection rate which is between ten and 20 per cent and community policing units.
“The Government has to be creative in finding ways of getting information from members of the public. This is of utmost importance.” Noting that the public confidence in the local police service was sadly lacking, Ramdhanie said the institution was a vital tool in restoring the strength of law and order. “Communities and police need to work together. The police have to show more respect to communities for them to get respect.” Ramdhanie said gang infiltration was key with police officers working as informers, undercover cops, spies and moles to dismantle the gangs.
Ramdhanie said his most worrying concern during this state of emergency was that the rights of citizens were not infringed and the emergency tribunal functions properly. “Another concern is that they go after the big fish as well as offenders of white collar crime.” Commenting on the recent arrest of Selwyn “Robocop” Alexis, Ramdhanie said a full-scale investigation was required to establish how Alexis came into possession of US$20 and a cellphone while in custody at the Gasparillo Police Station. “Whoever (police officers) accepted him (Alexis) at the station need to account.”
